SWIPE

With this series of work, Mike Nesbit explored the control of intent of a swift motion; a SWIPE. Like a swing of a baseball bat and a stroke of a paint brush, the technique of the action itself is explored through the scrutiny of the nuances between slight variation and true consistency of the outcome. Nesbit states, "... the result of a motion only exists in relation to a contextual dialogue." The SWIPE is studied by its relationship to materiality, scale, and color. Nesbit chooses to frame his SWIPES in relation to the urban landscape by utilizing brick walls, concrete or steel surfaces as his canvases. Beneath the swipe of painted creases with a screen printer's squeegee, emerges a complex narrative that only deepens because of its simplicity in impressionistic representation caused by SWIPE on a surface.

In collaboration between Jai & Jai Gallery and RedCar properties, Mike Nesbit's solo show SWIPE was a series of installations at an offsite exhibition space provided by RedCar that was meant to be both location-less yet site-specific, where the first intention of the artist is for the spectator to engage in the scale and materiality of the autonomous art pieces. Each six 8 x 12 foot concrete canvas, framed with steel, flanked and floated between the building's colonnade in order to create a wall of what seems like continuous SWIPES. The harmony between concrete canvas and site context was defined by the SWIPES of colored acrylic paint. The large concrete canvases hung gracefully as if they were floating in air, capturing striking swift swipes of radiant colors.